Lance Koster was prepared for a profession change and believed Texas was one of the best place to make it occur.
In 2024, he and his household left Salt Lake Metropolis for a small Texas city, the place he discovered close by work.
Whereas the Kosters admit they miss residing in Utah, they are saying they’re happier than ever in Texas.
This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Lance Koster, a 61-year-old Pilot teacher, and his spouse, Michelle, who moved to Justin, Texas, in 2024.
Justin is a small city about 40 minutes north of Fort Value. In keeping with current Census information, its inhabitants is 6,197.
The essay has been edited for size and readability.
Lance: In my profession as a pilot, my household and I moved across the nation lots. In 2010, we ended up in Salt Lake Metropolis and lived there for 14 years.
We cherished Salt Lake Metropolis. Its panorama was wonderful, particularly the mountains. We have been all the time snowboarding, biking, or tenting. And whereas we did not have a lot household there, we made quite a lot of pals.
Nevertheless, we wanted to make a change. The job was getting just a little troublesome, and my touring was beginning to enhance. I used to be spending quite a lot of time away from house.
My spouse and I are getting just a little older, and I used to be able to decelerate — I wished to be house at night time and never on the highway. I believed it was greatest to take a place coaching up-and-coming pilots, which might give me a extra secure schedule.
All through my profession, after I was coaching, my household and I spent a while in Texas. There are a few giant jet coaching services within the state, so I knew there can be alternatives for me to grow to be a pilot teacher.
My household and I’ve additionally all the time been intrigued by Texas. Each time we have visited, it has been a pleasing expertise. When it was lastly time for us to make a change, it was essentially the most logical vacation spot.
We moved to a small North Texas city
Lance: In June 2024, I obtained a job as a pilot teacher at an organization positioned on the Dallas-Fort Value Worldwide Airport. In September, we purchased a house in Justin, simply north of Fort Value.
It is a small city, but it surely’s rising rapidly.
Loads of the individuals who stay in Justin have lived and labored right here their entire lives, so it is really just a little uncomfortable for them that it is rising at such a fast tempo. Nonetheless, we have had nothing however nice experiences.
The Kosters’ Justin, Texas house.Courtesy of Lance and Michelle Koster.
Our house in Justin is 3,500 sq. ft and has 5 bedrooms and three bogs — sufficient house for my spouse, me, and our two teenage sons. We stay in a brand new neighborhood developed by homebuilder KB Houses.
We actually like our neighborhood. It has each bigger and smaller properties, which was good for us.
My spouse’s mom was residing with us in Salt Lake Metropolis, and after we moved to Texas, we wished to discover a house with a mother-in-law suite, however we weren’t having a lot luck.
So, we determined to purchase a bigger house that may match the 4 of us, and a smaller house for my mother-in-law, additionally in the identical neighborhood. She now lives a couple of quarter mile from us and is absolutely impartial.
There are execs and cons to residing in Texas
Lance: Salt Lake Valley, the place Salt Lake Metropolis sits, has a inhabitants of just about 2 million individuals, so although we lived in a suburban space, it nonetheless felt fairly busy. Life is lots slower in Justin.
The city has just a little downtown, with a small grocery retailer and a few eating places. We’ve to drive about 15 or 20 minutes towards Fort Value to do most of our procuring at locations like Costco or Walmart.
Our youthful son likes residing in Justin. He works on the grocery retailer, which is about half a mile from our home. Nevertheless, it is taken our older son just a little extra time to regulate.
The Kosters of their yard pool.Courtesy of Lance and Michelle Koster.
The largest change we have observed since shifting is the tradition — it is lots completely different. Justin is much more numerous. Utah has a big Mormon inhabitants, and whenever you’re not a part of that, it would not all the time really feel such as you’re included.
The climate is lots completely different in Texas, too. Salt Lake Metropolis was lots cooler, and whereas it does get heat within the Summer season, it is nowhere near how scorching it will get in Justin.
We began constructing a pool in December and completed it a few months in the past, so now we have our personal little oasis within the yard to beat the warmth.
Michelle: One other huge distinction in Texas is that you simply should not have to pay revenue tax. However the property taxes are excessive. Our home in Salt Lake Metropolis was 1,000 sq. ft bigger than our house in Justin, however our property taxes listed here are 3 times the quantity.
All the things right here can also be so unfold out in comparison with what we have been used to. We lived on the south finish of the Salt Lake Valley and it might take us 25 minutes to get downtown. If we go to Dallas from Justin — nearly 40 miles away — it could possibly take us wherever from an hour to 2.
We’re happier than ever
Michelle: We do miss our pals in Salt Lake Metropolis — we made some superb, lifelong pals — however we do not plan on shifting again. All of them come out to go to us, and we see them after we return.
Our son misses the mountains in Utah, particularly within the south. We had very nice views in every single place, and based mostly on the mountains, you would all the time inform in the event you have been going through north, south, east, or west. All the things about it was stunning.
The Kosters at Utah’s Capitol Reef Nationwide Park.Courtesy of Lance and Michelle Koster
That mentioned, we have accepted our new house, and the locals have accepted us, too. We have already began making pals. We have even hosted events at our home on cool nights, and it has been nice.
It is laborious for us to quantify, however all of us agree, we take pleasure in it right here extra.
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